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LECTURES
2022 - 2023 Season

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Tuesday, October 18, 2022

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Ancient Pastoralists and Ancient States: The Political Ecology of the Nubian C-Group on Ancient Egypt's Southern Frontier

 

Shayla Monroe, University of California, Santa Barbara (African Archaeology Lecture)

6:00 pm EST

Online via Zoom 

Abstract: Dr. Monroe’s dissertation research explored the political ecology of the Egyptian colonial frontier in Lower Nubia.  She began with an investigation of the long-term relationship between climate change and cattle pastoralism in northeastern Africa and followed with a zooarchaeological analysis of the excavated cattle remains left by the Egyptians of Askut (c. 1850 – 1550 BC), one of several large military garrisons built to monitor and control pharaonic Egypt’s southern borders.  Her questions were largely focused on the local herders that provided cattle to the Second Cataract Forts, namely, the pastoralist Nubian C-Group, the previous occupants of the territories that were occupied by Egyptian forces. C-Group people represented a long tradition of non-state pastoralist groups who shaped the political ecology of borderlands between pharaonic Egypt and Kerma.  Dr. Monroe used the food refuse at Askut to explore the role of livestock exchange in the interactions between Egyptian colonists and C-Group Nubians. Through time, the bones tell a story of human response to climate change, cultural fragmentation, survival, and coerced assimilation that still resonates with the socio-political circumstances of African pastoralists in present times.   

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Thursday, November 10, 2022

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Fixing the Date: the AD 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

 

Pedar W. Foss, DePauw University (Davison Lecture)

7:00 p.m. EST

Online via Zoom 

Abstract:  There has been much recent argument about whether the AD 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius happened in August or October, with scholarly and popular opinion swinging toward the latter. While a difference of two months might seem insignificant, it matters because it is a test of our argumentative methods and processes in archaeology and history. I will present the results of a 9-year project to examine all of the archaeological evidence but also, for the first time, to collate all surviving manuscript and early book sources for the Younger Pliny’s account. This investigation reveals that many current arguments are based on a long trail of sometimes spectacular blunders and misconceptions, and offers a solution to the question of when Vesuvius buried the ancient cities of the Neapolitan coast.

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Wednesday, March 1, 2023

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Gold Victories: The Gold Coinage of Alexander the Great

 

Frédérique Duyrat, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Metcalf Lecture)

 

7:00 pm EST(Annual Business Meeting @ 6:45 pm)

Catholic University and Zoom

 

Abstract: In 332, Alexander the Great started issuing gold coins with an image of Victory, symbol of his conquest of the Phoenician city of Tyre a􀅌er a 6
months siege. This event gave him complete command of the sea and allowed him to penetrate eastward, to the core of the Persian Empire.
In the following years, these coins and other gold coins were minted in huge quan􀆟􀆟es and flooded across his Empire. Symbol of the power of
the Macedonian conquerors, they also shed light on the upheaval and profound changes brought by Alexander.

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Thursday, April 13, 2023

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"New Views on an Old Temple: The Parthenon and Its Decoration” (Annual AIA DC Society Howland Lecture)

Dr. Jenifer Neils

 

6:30 PM Reception; 7:00 PM Lecture

University of Maryland School of Architecture Auditorium (room 0204) & Zoom. Free parking, lots 1b-d, JJ2-3, Z.

Abstract: The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is perhaps the most readily recognizable building in the world, and during the past two millennia our understanding of it and its sculptural decoration has continued to evolve. This lecture will examine some of these changing interpretations and how they are – or are not – related to the cultural, social and political context of 5th-century BCE Athens. Primarily a lavish marble temple dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens, the Parthenon is also a civic monument celebrating the democratic state’s victories in war, the valor of its heroes, the beauty of its citizenry, and even the status of its women. 

For previous lecture seasons, click here.

All lectures are free and open to the public

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